Music from The Beatles could be incorporated into a video game before it ever appears on iTunes.

Representatives of the band's back catalogue have reportedly had meetings with Activision and MTV Games about creating a title similar to the respective company's Guitar Hero or Rock Band franchises.

The Financial Times reports that the surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, remain cautious about issuing their albums on new platforms. They have still not allowed Apple to sell their music through its online iTunes store.

Mr McCartney and Mr Starr are on the board, which represent the interests of the band's back catalog, along with Yoko Ono Lennon and Olivia Harrison, the widows of the other two Beatles.

Representatives from both the game publishers and the Beatles have yet to comment on the prospective deal.

Activision has recently announced plans to create a new Guitar Hero game with US band Metallica.

This follows a similar deal it struck to release a version of the game celebrating the work of Aerosmith.